Monday, 11 August 2014

Academy Award-winning actor Robin Williams was found dead on Monday. He was 63. It is suspected that he killed himself.

Marin County Police said Robin Williams was pronounced dead at his home shortly after officials responded to an emergency call around noon local time. Williams was celebrated in Hollywood for his zany comic persona and more subtle dramatic performances.

The Sheriff's Coroner's Division Said It Suspects The Death Was A Suicide Due To Asphyxia. However, The Cause Of Death Is Still Under Investigation.

Emergency personnel found Mr. Williams inside the home he shared with his wife, Susan Schneider, after a 911 call reported a man unconscious and not breathing. The sheriff's office said Mr. Williams was last seen alive at 10 p.m. on Sunday.

"At this time, the Sheriff's Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made," police said in a statement.

Although, Williams's High Energy At Times Masked His Personal Struggle With Alcohol And Drug Addiction, According To His Representative, "He Has Been Battling Severe Depression Of Late"
Williams had recently returned to a rehabilitation centre to "fine-tune" his sobriety, the Los Angeles Times reported in July.

In A Statement, Williams's Wife, Susan Schneider, Said She Was "Utterly Heartbroken"

“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken. On behalf of Robin’s family we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”

The US President Obama Has Released A Statement Saying, "He Ended Up Touching Every Element Of The Human Spirit"

"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien - but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets," Obama said in the statement.

Born In Chicago, Illinois In 1951, Williams Joined The Drama Club In High School And Was Accepted Into Juilliard School In New York, The Prestigious American Academy For The Arts. There, He Was Encouraged By A Teacher To Pursue Comedy.

After starting his career in stand-up comedy and bursting into public consciousness in 1978 with the hit television comedy "Mork & Mindy," Mr. Williams built an acting career that included a rare mix of over-the-top star vehicles like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "The Birdcage," along with well-received roles in dramas including "Awakenings" and "Insomnia."

He was nominated for four Oscars, winning best supporting actor for his role as a therapist to a troubled young math genius in "Good Will Hunting," which was released in 1997. "This might be the one time I'm speechless," he said upon accepting the award.

Since his days on "Mork & Mindy," a fish-out-of-water tale that ran for four seasons in which he played an alien from the planet Ork, Mr. Williams demonstrated a fully formed comedic style fully of tics and habits that would become his trademarks.

Those idiosyncrasies, like monologues full of non sequiturs or unexpected accents, would help him quickly become one of the world's biggest comedy stars and a favorite guest of late-night television talk shows. Even when not pictured on screen, Mr. Williams had a tendency to pull focus, including a celebrated turn as the voice of the madcap genie in the 1992 animated film "Aladdin."

In 1986, Williams Worked With Fellow Comedians Whoopi Goldberg And Billy Crystal To Start Comic Relief Inc., A Nonprofit Charity That Raises Money For The Homeless

Together they hosted an annual comedy fundraiser for more than a decade, reuniting in 2006 to raise money for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

But Williams Surprised Many Fans By Harnessing His Manic Energy Into A String Of More Dramatic Roles

Beginning with 1987's "Good Morning, Vietnam," he was nominated for a best actor Oscar three times in five years, with nominations also for "Dead Poets Society" and "The Fisher King."

However, His Acting Career Slowed In The Past Decade

He starred in the short-lived series "The Crazy Ones," which was canceled in May. He recently played the role of Teddy Roosevelt in the family comedy "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," which will be released in December.

In The Film "Dead Poets Society," (This Curator's Most Loved Film Of Williams) He Plays John Keating, An Electric English Teacher At An Elite All-Boys High School. In A Quintessential Speech, Keating Tells His Students:

To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

Saturday, 9 August 2014

Earlier this week, Facebook crushed its second quarter earnings and its stock hit an all-time high — which really just means Mark Zuckerberg is one step closer to being the richest man in the world.

Zuckerberg’s current net worth is about $33.1 billion, putting him at No. 16 in Forbe’s ranking of the world’s billionaires. More impressively, he is one of just three people who currently have more billions under their belt than years lived.

The Harvard dropout has clearly made it big thanks to the 2.2 billion people on Facebook. He’s known for his charitable tendencies, but Zuckerberg also manages to lead a pretty extravagant life at the same time.

Mark Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, NY. He grew up with his three siblings in the nearby town, Dobbs Ferry. At the age of 12, Zuckerberg used Atari BASIC to create a messaging program his dad used in his dental office.

Zuckerberg went to Phillips Exeter Academy, an exclusive preparatory school in New Hampshire. While still in high school, he created an early music streaming platform, which AOL and Microsoft showed interest in, but were rebuffed by young Zuck.

Zuckerberg enrolled in Harvard University in 2002, where he quickly became known for his developer skills. After his sophomore year, he decided to drop out and focus on “The Facebook,” which he had been running out of his dormroom.

Before dropping out, Zuckerberg met his now-wife, Priscilla Chan. Chan told “Today’s” Savannah Guthrie that they met at a frat party. “On our first date, he told me that he’d rather go on a date with me than finish his take-home midterm,” she said.

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The two married on May 19, 2012 at a surprise wedding, where guests thought they were attending a med school graduation for Chan.

The two honeymooned in Italy, flying in on a private jet and staying at a five-star hotel, Portrait Suites, where rooms start at €800 per night.

The couple tends to set aside two weeks every December to travel, often visiting Chan’s family in China.

And they have an adorable dog named Beast.

Zuckerberg’s sister Randi has made a name for herself as well. She published a book called “Dot Complicated” late last year, and starred in the Broadway show “Rock of Ages.”

But back to Facebook… By the end of 2005, the site had surpassed 5.5 million users and received $12.7 million from Accel Ventures.

Zuckerberg continued to see success with Facebook and in 2010 was featured as Time magazine’s person of the year. Vanity Fair also placed him at the top of their New Establishment list, and Forbes ranked him at No. 35 on its “400″ list, ahead of Steve Jobs.

He took the company public on May 18, 2012. The IPO raised $16 billion almost instantly, making it the biggest tech IPO in history.

Another sign of Zuck having made it is the fact he received a $1 salary in 2013. (Not including the $653,164 for “other compensation,” most of which covered bills for private chartered jets.)

He also frequently meets with really important people like Russia’s prime minister and former president, Dmitri A. Medvedev.

And President Obama. This is a visit back in February 2011.

Oh, and there was an art exhibit in Singapore that was solely about Mark Zuckerberg. The exhibition by Chinese artist Zhu Jia was called “The Face of Facebook.”

Still, Zuckerberg is not particular showy, driving around this black Volkswagen GTI with a manual transmission, which costs around $30,415.

Although there were rumors floating around that he recently splurged on a Pagani Huayra.

In general, though, he seems to spend his money on trying to make the world a better place. He was the most charitable philanthropist in 2013, having donated half a billion dollars worth of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. He has also donated a lot of money to Newark, New Jersey’s public school system and his nonprofit Internet.org.

But don’t worry, he still saved more than $30 million to buy four neighboring houses around his home in Palo Alto. Apparently a developer was going to buy the houses and market them as being next door to Zuckerberg, so Mark decided to buy them himself and lease them to the original owners. His own home is 5,000 square feet. Oh, and he bought another house in San Francisco for $10 million.

He was also comfortable enough to helicopter to the Burning Man festival in Nevada for just one day.

All in all, Zuckerberg leads a pretty modest life, considering all of the billions he is worth. He’s happy to stick with his hoodie.